IRA MILLER ON THE NFL -- Raiders Don't Handle Adversity Well

When the Raiders kept the locker room closed after their Monday night defeat to the Chiefs, they said more about themselves by their silence than they possibly could have said by speaking.

They lost a tough game, and they slinked silently out the back door.

Does that tell you anything?

Forget, for a moment, about their contractual obligations to speak to the media, and about whether and how much the NFL will fine them, because those issues are really besides the point.

In the big picture, it doesn't matter why Jeff George threw such a silly, underhanded pass, or the Raiders played defense on Kansas City's last play like they'd never been on the field

together before. All that matters is the result and how they handled it.

Football coaches are great at preaching about the value of learning from tough times and overcoming adversity. The Raiders' over-reaction to a defeat in the second week of the season shows just how much they still have to learn.

Ever since they came back home from Los Angeles two years ago, the Raiders have given sign after sign of psychological weakness, especially compared to those old Raiders' teams, teams that were so proud and so tough before they fled to the south.

But whether it was their reaction to Jeff Hostetler's injury in 1995 -- a six-game nosedive at the end of the season -- or the manner in which they manage to lose almost every close game

they're in, or the repeated dumb penalties and mental mistakes, these Raiders show little connection to their teams of the past. (Since Hostetler, who is not exactly John Elway, went out in November 1995, the Raiders have a 1-13 record in games decided by seven points or less.)

The old Raiders lost games, too, though not as many as the new Raiders, but they didn't hide. If facing a few people with note pads and microphones is too tough for their psyche, how will they be able to face folks like the Denver Broncos?

Digress for a moment. No one in the NFL is known for handling a defeat the way the Raiders did. The Cowboys and Packers stood up after they were upset on Sunday. Kansas City and Denver didn't hide after suffering shocking, first-game playoff defeats at home at the end of the last two seasons. Teams have lost Super Bowls with less trauma than the Raiders displayed. Even the old Raiders did not go into hiding after the Immaculate Reception game.

Perhaps over-reaction is just a product of the over-hyped time in which we live. I'm sure once Joe Bugel had a chance to think about it, he wouldn't really equate a loss to Kansas City

For the Raiders, the question now is how they'll react the rest of the season. There is some talent on this team, albeit not as much as the Raiders like to think there is. But there ought to be enough to improve on the .500 record and no playoff appearances of the last three years -- especially given the next month's schedule: Falcons, Jets, Rams, Chargers.

It's long past time for the Raiders to stop talking about the past and do something worth talking about in the present. Their media guide cover bills them as "the team of the decades," and the back cover says they're "in the fourth decade of dominance as professional sports' winningest team."

But the fact is, in the past decade, they have lost as many games as they won and, in the last 13 seasons, they won just two playoff games. And even their self-proclaimed dominance on Monday nights is now history, too. Since 1991, they have a 4-9 record on Monday nights, and, with the latest defeat, they no longer have the NFL's best all-time record in Monday night games.

You can be pretty sure the Raiders won't lock the door again after a game. The question they have to answer now, with their play on the field, is whether they'll have anything worth talking about.